Essentials Cafe

Some of you I know have this application. I'm not thinking of getting it at present (I'm still not familiar with all that Painter 4 can do) but I would love to look at the sort of paintings produced in it. Is there a way of viewing these without buying the package? Thanks for your advice.

I think the best way anne is to join painter factory. It is the sister forum to this and dedicated to Painter X users.

A lot of the stuff posted is about technical issues and there are not a lot of galleries. However there is a 'Share Your Work' place there which is like our 'Show Your Creations'

I'm still finding my way around both programmes but Painter X is a lot more complicated but as a result gives a lot more choices, of brushes including the ability to create your own. It also has an auto paint just like ours.

I have created folders on my PC to seperate my painter X creations from my Essentials 4 stuff so I can compare at some future date.

you can download a demo of X anne. I think it runs for 60 days ( or am i dreaming again). Pop off to corel website to check it out. If you do get X, i think you should still use essentials as it can be a lot quicker to get results sometimes.

If you go to the other painter site called painter factory, http://painterfactory.com/ there is a gallery within called factory wall where you can get an idea of the types of art and artist utilising the full version of painter, and if you go to any good newsagent you can find a magazine dedicated to painter, called official corel painter magazine. I have had every version since painter 4, and for a fine art illustration painter is stunning, but there is very little you cannot do in essentials for a fraction of the price Anne, painter is able to do more with many more functions, but has a steeper learning curve, simply because of the extra complexity, but for painting in real time, simulating real medium, there is none better as far as I have seen. On the other hand if you only had a pencil and paper the only limit is your imagination and skill, and the same applies to any competent graphics programme. I am more than impressed with essentials, for the price it is a world beater, and I don't think I have even approached its full capabilities yet, and maybe never will, it never ceases to amaze me. For graphic design I use other programmes, many other programmes, but for sheer fun in creating art which does not need to comply with printing requirements essentials is a breath of fresh air, and is no toy.

Thank you all for your help. As I say, I'm not thinking of buying this at present, I was just curious to see the difference in things produced with another application. I'll have a look at that Painter Factory site. I like looking at any galleries I can find to get some inspiration myself too.